The former Indy 500 winner and two-time CART champion drove his
new No. 66 de Ferran Motorsports Panasonic ELS Surround Acura ARX-01b to
a sizzling lap of one minute, 7.969 seconds (119.60 miles per hour ),
besting Timo Bernhard's overall mark of 1:08.510 (118.651 m.p.h.)
from last year. De Ferran, who retired as a driver in 2003, returned to
the cockpit in May at Salt Lake City, Utah with an all-new crew and
operation. He teamed with Frenchman Simon Pagenaud to place third
overall in the team's initial contest.

On Friday at Mid-Ohio, the personable Brazilian came from sixth
in the early portions of qualifying to vault to the pole position with
just four minutes remaining in the 20-minute qualifying session. Lime
Rock race and pole winner David Brabham had leaped to the top of the
charts with a 1:08.193 clocking halfway through the session.

A host of LMP1 and LMP2 drivers took shots at the two Acura
drivers' times but failed to crack the front row. De Ferran and
Brabham, in the No. 9 Patron Highcroft Racing Acura ARX-01b prototype,
scored Acura's second consecutive front row after the No. 9 and No.
66 machines started in reverse order in Lime Rock qualifying.

The top six positions in Friday's qualifying bettered
Bernhard's old qualifying mark.

Bernhard took the No. 7 Penske Porsche to third on the grid at
119.12 m.p.h., followed by Franck Montagny in the No. 26 Andretti Green
XM Satellite Radio Acura ARX-01b at 118.98, Marco Werner in the No. 2
Champion Audi at 118.92 and Luis Diaz in the No. 15 Lowe's
Fernandez Acura ARX-01b at 118.66.

The pole for de Ferran marked his third straight on the famed
2.25-mile, 13-turn circuit, dating to 2000 and 2001, when he scored poles
for team Penske in the CART open-wheel series.

ACURA QUOTES:

GIL DE FERRAN (#66 Panasonic ELS Sound Acura ARX-01b):
"This pole is just fantastic. We are such a young team and we are
learning the ropes of the American Le Mans Series. This is only our
third race and we have been able to qualify on the front row at each of
them. But now to win the pole is great for our Panasonic ELS team and
for Acura. I have a great history with HPD [Honda Performance
Development] and it is exciting to give them a pole today. To win the
overall pole here is very emotional for me. The last time I raced here
was back in 2001 with CART and I was able to win the pole then. Now, for
an old guy like me to return and capture the overall pole position is
very special. I have a great teammate in Simon [Pagenaud] and I believe
we have a tremendous chance to win the race on Saturday. The Highcroft
team did a superb job last week to win overall at Lime Rock. I know they
will be tough just like the other Acuras, the Porsches and the
Audis."

DAVID BRABHAM (#9 Highcroft Racing Acura ARX-01b):
"I am really
happy. Of course, after sitting on the pole at the Northeast Grand Prix
last weekend, it would have been nice to have been on top again. But
seeing how we were struggling throughout practice, running in sixth and
seventh position, we feel really good about tonight's result."

LUIS DIAZ (#15 Lowe's Fernandez Acura ARX-01b):
"It was tough
day. I was expecting better in qualifying because we had a good test
here. Unfortunately, I think we were chasing the track a little bit. We
got confused on the downforce versus the mechanical grip and
couldn't find a good balance for qualifying. I think we have a
strong race car and tomorrow should be a lot better."

FRANCK MONTAGNY (#26 XM Satellite Radio AGR Acura ARX-01b):
"The XM Acura
was all right during qualifying. We are starting on the second row, which
is much better than starting last like we had to do last weekend. The
car will be strong in the race, but it was missing something for
qualifying. But we are getting better. We are now battling for P1, P2,
P3 all of the time."